[1/6] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Tonga's Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, July 26, 2023. UPOU VAIPULU/Pool via REUTERSWELLINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of China's "problematic behaviour" during a visit to the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Wednesday, citing Beijing's militarisation of the South China Sea and what he called economic coercion. Blinken said at a press conference that the U.S. had no objection to China's engagement with the region but there were concerns that its investments needed to be transparent and undertaken with sustainable finance. "I think one of the things that we’ve seen is that as China’s engagement in the (Indo-Pacific) region has grown there has been some, from our perspective, increasingly problematic behaviour," he said. Blinken said the United States was committed to both Tonga and the broader Pacific Islands.

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Persons: Antony Blinken, Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi, UPOU, Beijing's militarisation, Solomon, Blinken, Siaosi Sovaleni, Joe Biden, Wang Yi, Lloyd Austin, Emmanuel Macron, Sovaleni, Nuku’alofa, Lucy Craymer, Stephen Coates Organizations: Tonga's, REUTERS, Tongan, U.S . Defense, Embassy, Thomson Locations: Nuku'alofa, Tonga, REUTERS WELLINGTON, Pacific, South, U.S, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Washington, China, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Beijing, Wellington , New Zealand